


Day 65 - Man errs, till he has ceased to strive.

by Anarion



Series: An almost gravitational pull    (former '365 days of 221Bs' series) [65]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Goethe's Faust, Humor, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Slash, Sophisticated Title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anarion/pseuds/Anarion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>“Did you ever name anything?”</b>
</p><p>As a writing exercise for me, Atlinmerrick and I came up with the ‘365 days of 221Bs’ challenge: I am going to write a 221B each day for a year (meaning 365 in total). Every 221B will be based on a prompt given by Atlin on the same day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 65 - Man errs, till he has ceased to strive.

“Did you ever name anything?”

“I named my cat.”

“You had a cat?”

“Obviously, since I named him.”

“What did you call him?”

“I called him ‘cat’.”

John opened his mouth but Sherlock beat him.

“I was three years old. I named him ‘Mephistophilis’ when I was six.”

“Mephistophilis?”

“It’s a name from a German legend. Goethe wrote a tragic play about it. It’s about a man called Faust who gives his soul to the devil – Mephistophilis. My great-great-aunt Anna read it to me.”

“Your aunt read you a tragic play written by some German author when you were six?”

“Five, actually. Why, what did your parents read to you?”

“Not tragic plays by German authors. And before you ask: No other tragic plays either. So why did you name him Mephistophilis?”

“People kept saying that I had no soul because I never cried or laughed. And that I was a devil’s child because I knew too much. Faust gave his soul away for knowledge, amongst other things. I thought if I was Faust, he could be Mephistophilis.”

Sherlock turned back to his laptop and John let him.

He wondered how some people could still not see Sherlock's soul when he was willing to remember all that pain just to not delete a kitten called Mephistophilis. They really must be blind.

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was 'the kitten's name' and refered to [The Cat Is Out Of The Bag](http://archiveofourown.org/works/415022) where Sherlock got his kitty.
> 
> Title is -of course- a quote from 'Faust', Goethe's tragic play.


End file.
